Craig Lockhart Essay

Wilfred Owen was a soldier in the First World state of state of war in 1917 he was admitted to Craig Lockhart hospital with shell shock. He had previously written poems pre 1917 but whilst in the hospital he met Siegfried Sassoon Sassoon had a huge influence on the way Owen wrote his poems. Owens main message in his poems was to warn the public about war, as well as dis-agree with other writers such as Jessie pontiff and Rupert Brooke who presented war as noble Owen was completely against this melodic theme of war, especially the message these other writers tried to convey.In Owens poem characterisation the readers lookout is reversed we expect the poem to be about mental picture to enemy fire but what the men in the poem ar really exposed to is the suffer this weather will eventually kill them as they die from hypothermia. In the poem the men be suffering from psychological trauma projecting their accept madness onto nature. The reader starts to sense Owens possess ques tioning of his religion, Christianity, as he goat no longer believe there is an after lifespan and presents his theme of the futility of war.The opening of Exposure establishes the theme of psychological trauma, which is a reversal of the readers expectation beca intent we expect the men to be exposed to enemy fire this is the first thought the reader had when idea about Exposure. The opening line of the poem is Our brains ache, which signals to the reader a new idea and a reversal of the original expectation we have and we sense the men argon worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous.The word Our shows that collectively their brains ache and suggests the idea of the universality of war and the fact that on both sides, the British and Germans, many men suffered from psychological trauma. Another idea could be that the men are unceasingly worried (paranoia) about being heard or coming under attack, hence their brains ache with worry.Also, the use of sibilance throug hout the opening creates an uneasy atmosphere and we can sense that the men themselves are uneasy the sibilance creates a whispering sound this constant paranoia surrounds the men that if they talk too loud they will die, which in flake creates psychological problems. This conveys the, maybe uneasy, horror of war because what if affecting the men the or so is not the constant Exposure to enemy fire but the constant fear that they are freeing to be shot at. move Offensive confirms Owens sincere lack of faith in an after life as he questions Gods existence throughout the poem. He suggests that the hundreds, perhaps thousands of men are not going to heaven as some would same to believe but simply just dying. The consolatory apologue that many once used to believe is forgotten on the front line, as the men can no longer believe in the existence of such entity. Owen suggests that there is no Christian enlightenment or Hell but that man have created a hell on earth there is constant dying and murder yet these men do not go anywhere.This highlights that perhaps this is the most poignant horror of war, the futility of war. In Spring Offensive the theme of psychological trauma is again establish in the opening stanza the idea of the futility of war is also introduced. Many there stood still to face the unconditioned unclouded sky beyond the ridge, shows that the men are perhaps afraid of going everywhere the top for the fear that if they die they will go nowhere, no heaven or hell. Owens own fading whimsey in religion and an afterlife is introduced.The men in the poem are stir about what they are going to face when the go over the ridge (trench), as they have problems with what they are going to have to do when they go over the top of the ridge they do not like the idea of killing over people. The use of sibilance is used in the poem, as in Exposure, to in effect create a sense of unease. This is a contrast to those who careless(prenominal)ly slept as they do not understanding killing others in order to save themselves and at the end of Spring Offensive we learn that these were the ones who, eventually, survived.This perhaps suggests that they themselves have no social conscience in that they are quite happy to kill homosexual beings like themselves and perhaps have psychological problems of a different kind. The stark blank sky could also, perhaps, be a link to astrology, with the idea from the past that the sky could show you what was in store for you in the future. A sunny day would suggest some liaison good would happen to you and you would be fine, for example.However, the fact that they face the stark blank sky could be because they have no future, this is the end of their lives and that their own future is stark, blank there is no hope of them going to the Christian Heaven or Hell, as Owen is trying to suggest that neither of these places exists, which strengthens the readers idea that Owen has a lack of belief in Christianit y. The idea that the men are stood still is also a link to Exposure the men are passive in the war in that they cannot affect what is going on, which also presents the theme of the futility of war.In the opening of Spring Offensive Owen successfully presents the themes of the futility of war and of psychological trauma and starts to establish his own belief that there is no such thing as Heaven or Hell in a subtle but effective manner. In Exposure the men project their own madness onto the wind and have a strong belief that nature, especially the wind, is against them this comes from their psychological problems. Owen personifies the wind when he says winds that knive us and the men start to think of the wind as mad gusts, as well as suggesting that the bullets being fired at the men are less deadly than the air.